Amaya Group chief executive David Baazov’s friend and financial adviser, Toronto investor and accountant Yoel Altman, has attracted the attention of Quebec securities regulator Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) according to the Globe and Mail newspaper report on the Amaya-Rational Group acquisition deal probe.
The AMF investigated trading activity having paid a visit to the Amaya headquarters in Montreal earlier this year.
According to the Globe, Altman was seen as an external consultant and financer to Amaya having been an influence in Amaya’s acquisition of Cryptologic in 2012 and putting up a $5 million bridging loan.
"Mr. Altman is also one of more than 300 investors identified on a confidential list by Wall Street’s self-regulator, theFinancial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), for unusually active trading in Amaya’s stock ahead of the company’s news last June that it was buying online poker giant PokerStars," the Globe and Mail article reports.
Altman hasn’t addressed the report as of yet and Amaya issued a statement saying “The board and management are taking the inquiries by regulators seriously and acting appropriately.”
Efti
9 years ago
I knew a bit about Amaya before the Rational acquisition but was unaware it was such a big player in the online gaming industry. I'm not surprised, however, to see that there is now suspicion surrounding how the deal was carried out... But we all know white collar crimes like insider trading are rarely, if ever, punished...
I knew a bit about Amaya before the Rational acquisition but was unaware it was such a big player in the online gaming industry. I'm not surprised, however, to see that there is now suspicion surrounding how the deal was carried out... But we all know white collar crimes like insider trading are rarely, if ever, punished severely even if they harm more people than an isolated robbery.
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catapultaudio
9 years ago
I had no idea that Amaya had also bought Cryptologic in the past few years but their acquisition of PokerStars certainly caught my attention and no doubt that of many other on-line gamers, as whilst I now understand they have been making some slot games for quite a while I was completely unaware of them prior to that purchase....
I had no idea that Amaya had also bought Cryptologic in the past few years but their acquisition of PokerStars certainly caught my attention and no doubt that of many other on-line gamers, as whilst I now understand they have been making some slot games for quite a while I was completely unaware of them prior to that purchase. I can imagine them being put under increasing scrutiny if they continue buying up major operations like this!
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